economist steve richiuitto believes the financial impact will be modest. >> the numbers that are being bandied about are basically anywhere from $10 billion to $40 billion. but if you look at it in terms of its effect on quarterly g.d.p., third quarter g.d.p., how much could you take off of that? well the answer, basically, is about 0.1%. that's nowhere near the $45 billion in private insurance damage from hurricane katrina in 2005, but many experts say it's too early to calculate the full impact of irene, especially with some towns still underwater. and then there's the yet-to-be- tallied impact to retailers. some chains, like home depot and lowes, benefited from storm preparations. others, however, suffered as irene forced many to shutter during a busy weekend. analyst r.j hottovy said late august can be important for many retailers. >> typically in a period like this, especially being back to school season, a lot of the purchases are simply going to get delayed into this week. the problem for retailers? this potentially could move inventories to a markdown situation. >> reporter: ex